Short Story Theater

Give the Devil his due! He's responsible one of our greatest Halloween traditions, A rogue named Jack battled with Satan and it looked like Jack won. But it was a victory that proved very costly and the only good thing to come out of the fight was the very first Jack-0-lantern.

Part One of Bill Russo's Short Story Theater's, audio version of John A. Russo's seminal tale, Night of the Living Dead, which started the entire Living Dead and Walking Dead genre of films and books.

The story that started the Zombie genre. Bill Russo's Short Story Theater presents John A. Russo's classic tale, The Night of the Living Dead - the Audio Version, Part Two.

A brand new dramatization of the classic tale, The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe. It's the story of a man who sinks so deeply into the world of whiskey and rum, that he changes from a person who loves life, people, and animals, into a soul-less monster who hates everything that is good. Sitting in his cell, awaiting execution, he writes the woeful tale of his depravity.

The bittersweet narrative of an unfortunate boy whose misshapen face made him look more like a fish than a person. His name was James Da Silva but most people just called him, 'Catfish' or sometimes, Jimmy Catfish. If Jimmy was odd, the secluded area where he lived, called Codfresh Lake, was even more outlandish than the strange amphibious boy himself. Giant catfish, with poison fins and dagger-sh...

In the sleepy little New England town of Bell's Neck, New Hampshire, there's a mound of barren earth as big as a haystack, that the locals call 'The Devil's Mound'. They say that it has pulled at least a half dozen boys inside, and smothered them. It may be true. It also could be true that the evil pile of dirt had a good reason for killing. You be the judge in Episode 9, Season 2, of Short Story...

Here's the Soundtrack from "Mama and A Christmas Spirit" with the full versions of the Sophisticated and Swinging holiday tunes from E and the Jammy Jams. It's a 30 minute session of stories and songs with Basil Nightingale, the host of Bill Russo's Short Story Theater.

Like a slow burn, the terror creeps up in minute increments and then bursts forth in an explosion of revulsion! Lovecraft's The Picture in the House. It's Episode Six of Season two. Be warned...this story starts off like a glass of warm milk, but just when you think it is lulling you to sleep, you will begin to feel discomfort when you start to realize the horrible secret revealed by the picture.

Episode Five of Season Two is a tale for all seasons, though it is set on a Christmas Eve more than a half century ago. What started as a festive holiday quickly turns heartbreaking when Mama collapses just after serving dinner. Pa must leave 10 year old Jimmy in charge of his younger brother and sister, while he attempts to ride his brave old farm-horse, Mr. Lincoln through a blizzard, to fetch D...

The tense tale of a Disc Jockey battling for his creative freedom, with the owner of the Radio Station where he works. Based on true stories of Rock and Roll radio 'Jocks' in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

A tale about life and death. Not in general, but the particular life of one Mister Carlo Santanelli, who is about to meet his maker.

Could you sit with the dead for a night? In old New England, someone had to spend the darkest part of the night with the deceased, until the mortician arrived in the morning. When his boss 'clapsed' and died from a heart attack, the frightful job of 'dead-sitter' fell to the Foreman, Asa Bitridge, who would spend the bleak hours desperately trying to fend off - THE COLD TOUCH OF DEATH!

Season Two of Short Story Theater. Episode One. Basil Nightingale returns as host and Bill Russo offers a new perspective on his well known sighting of the Raynham Puckwudgie.

The Third and final installment of Bill Russo's Book, Hauntin' Taunton, the State Asylum

Hauntin Taunton - Two, introduces the Hug and Drug Killer, Poison Ivy, the real life woman who dreamed of becoming the number one serial killer of all time. We also learn a little more about the source of James Wilkes nightmares, and the creature they spawned.

You've certainly seen many shows, or read numerous books, about Asylums - but only one can rightly be called "The" Asylum. It's the Taunton State Hospital in the heart of the Bridgewater Triangle. Here dramatized for the first time is Part One (Cannibelle) of Bill Russo's book "Hauntin' Taunton".

We interrupt our regular program for a Fake News Update on the 'Cerveza Virus' which is frightening the world as of the year 20-20

And now for (as Monty Python used to say) something completely different: we bring you Bill Russo's narrative of a family trying to collect its proper inheritance. It's a tale that starts out in New England and travels around the world as Bill Russo takes on the role of a writer "In Search of, A Final Chapter."

At the edge of the Hockomock Swamp in the beating heart of the Bridgewater Triangle, four young men sit by a night-time campfire. They swap stories in an area known for cryptic mysteries and bizarre monsters. As the night wears on and the tales get icier, they're joined by a tall bearded man, accompanied by a massive off-breed dog. It's Joe Santini, a legendary hermit-like figure, who relates the...

Short Story Theater dusts off an old tale of an even older crystal dinner bell. The owner of the quaint shop where the bell has gathered dust on a shelf for 20 years says, "Ring Once for Death". But not to worry, he's removed the clapper! So the bell is perfectly safe.....until.

You've certainly heard of that graveyard on Cape Cod where everybody's dying to get in! Ah but the problem is, once they get in, they become restless and get out of their coffins to chase around some old guy with a 50 cent cigar screwed into the side of his mouth.

The 7 million dollar man could buy anything he wanted. But when told he had just 30 days to live, his money couldn't purchase even one extra second of life. Grimly he decided that if he couldn't unlock the secret of life, then he would explore the secret of death - enter, The Grim Reaper.

From a newly discovered notebook of Dr. John H. Watson, comes to light for the first time, the adventures Sherlock Holmes in the 'New' England. To be specific, Holmes sails to Cape Cod, where Moriarty is poised to capture the entire Cod-fish market, as the first step in the conquest of all 33 of the United States.

I Grew Up in Dodge City - as told by a young man who walked 1500 miles from Lone Pine California to Dodge City along the alkali trail. The half inch coating of white trail dust that covered him from head to toe prompted the towns people to call him "Chalky". The name stuck and he carried it with him the rest of his life. Chalky was treated well by the citizens when he wandered down Front Strreet....

An elegant 4 story mansion with a dark secret hidden in the attic, the wreck of a 3-masted sailing ship from which it is said, skeletons try to wade to shore - these are the ingredients of the 49 minute dramatized tale, The Room in the Attic.